Clothes-pounder



I (No Model.)

. R T. ROOTS.

CLOTHES POW ER;

No. 305,335. Patented Sept. 16, 1884.

n. pn'zka Humming-w Washingiom a c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS T. ROOTS, OF CONNERSVILLE, INDIANA.

CLOTHES-POUNDER. A

SPECIPICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 305,335, dated September 16, 1884.

Application filed April 4, less. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANCIS T. Roors, a citizen of the United States, residing at Connersville, county of Fayette, State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Olothcs Pounders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that class of washing-machines known as clothes-pounders or compressed-air washers, and consisting of a hollow vessel or pounder-cup, open at its lower end and provided at its upper closed end with a handle. In this class of washers, as originally constructed, it was found that upon the downwardthrustofthepounderthewaterand clothes in the tub would enter the lower open end of the pen nder, thereby expelling the air from within the pounder-cup, so that upon attempting to raise the pounder for another stroke a vacuum or partial vacuum wouldbe created within the pound er-cup, and a portion of the clothes within the tub would be lifted by suction and cause a splashing of the water contained in the tub. A partially-successful attempt to remedy this defect was made by providing the upper end of the poundercup with air vents or apertures closed by inwardly-opening valves, so that during a downward stroke the pounder-cup would have the character of a tight vessel and force air through the clothes in the tub; but during an upward movement the pressure of air upon the valves would open them, and by supplying air to the vacuum within the vessel establish equilibrium, so that there would be no suction upon the clothes which had been crowded into the cup by the downward thrust; but this effort to avoid splashing has been found in practice to be only partially successful, for the reason, among others, that the faces of the valves would become wet and stick to the valve-seats, and not open promptly at the commencement of the upward movement of the pounder.

The object of this invention is to overcome the objections above stated; .and to this end the invention consists in providing the poundercup with a water-chamber, (one or more,) securing an upwardly-closing valve within and near the lower open end of the pounder-cup to close a valve-opening in the bottom of said water-'chamber,'and providing the side walls of the water-chamber, just above its bottom, with open ports, whereby water will be admitted to the watercl1amber above the valve during the downward stroke of the pounder, andopen said valve during the momentary interval between the downward and upward movements of the pounder, thus supplying the vacuum at the commencement of the upward movement and avoiding all suction, all of which will be fully understood from the following description of the accompanying draw-v ings, in which Figure 1 is an axial section of a device provided with my improvements. Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is an axial section of a modified form of my invention Similar parts throughout the various views are indicated by similar reference-letters.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, A is a coneshaped cup provided at its tapered end with the customary socket, B, to receive the'handle G. The socket-piece rests upon a transverse partition, a, which serves to brace, it in position. Within the cup A is a partition, D, which divides the conical cup horizontally and forms the bottom of what I shall term a water-chamber. The partition is centrally perforated. This perforation is closed by a spring-actuated valve, E. The partition D,- instead of being a perforated disk, as shown, may be an inverted hollow truncated cone. The spring F, which normally holds the valve to its seat, is compressed between the valve and a disk, G, which is secured in a recess formed in the transverse strengthening ribs or' vanes H. The valve is guided in its movements by a rod secured to its under side,which has vertical play in a tube, 6, to which the inner ends of the vanes H are secured. Above the partition D the side of the cup is perforated at I, to admit water in the water-chamber when the cup A is forced down in the tub or vessel containing the clothes. In the dotted line in 5 Fig. 1 I have shown a spiral spring within the water-chamber, united to the top side of the valve and to the partition a, and stretched between the two to hold the valve to its seat by the pulling action of the spring. This may be used in place of spring F, or, if desired, in

conjunction with it. The valve E may be made of rubber, leather, or any suitable material, and the valve may be made of any suitable form, without varying the principle of my invention, as its location with relation to the bottom of the cup A and the reliefports I is the essential feature of my invention.

In the form shown in Fig. 3 the dividingpartition D is omitted, and short elbow-tubes I are extended inward and downward to a short distance above the vanes H, thus forming independent water-chambers. The lower ends of these tubes or water-chambers are provided with valves E. The operation of this device is the same as that shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

It will be seen that when in use the valves E or E will be held firmly closed when the cup is pressed down,foreing the clothes down beneath it, and that when it has reached the limit of its downward thrust, the water, having rushed in through the ports in the side of the cup, will press down upon the upper side of the valves, so that the weight of water and the pressure of air will open the valves and release the clothes from the bottom of the cup. v The pounder is thus easily lifted up.

Having thus described my invention, what I vessel, A, provided with a water-chamber (one or more) having in its side walls open ports, just above the bottom, and in its bottom a horizontal valveopening, which is closed by an upwardly-closing springpressed valve, substantially as described.

2. In a clothes -pounder, the combination, substantially as before set forth, of the hollow open -bottomed vessel A, the waterchamber formed by the side walls of the vessel, and the partition D,the open ports for said water-chamber, j ust above the partition D, the valve-open ing inthe bottom of said chamber, and the upwardly-closing spring-pressed valve for closing the opening in the bottom of the waterchamber.

FRANOIS T. ROOTS.

WVitnesses:

PHILIP REIFEL, GEORGE XV. REHL. 

